


Call Me by Your Name

by things_that_matter



Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [24]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Discipline, Domestic Fluff, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, M/M, puppy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:53:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29084949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_that_matter/pseuds/things_that_matter
Summary: “The hardest part of owning a puppy is choosing the name.”  ~No One Ever
Relationships: Oliver/Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094873
Comments: 12
Kudos: 16





	Call Me by Your Name

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a common fan theory that centers on the etymology of words. Apricot, anyone?

Ollie and his furry friend were inseparable by the end of the weekend. “She _ needs _ me though,” Ollie insisted as he flatly refused to get on the bus Monday morning. Elio finally told him he wouldn’t be allowed to play with the puppy after school if he didn’t listen to him. So, Ollie grudgingly went to school. While he was there, though, all he could think about was the adorable speckled puppy that was at home waiting for him. 

Elio and Oliver had to admit that Ollie was proving himself to be a very responsible pet owner. He fed her, watered her, brushed her, slept with her, took her outside every hour, and he even let her choose what they would watch for TV night when it was Ollie’s turn. Overall, the first week with the puppy was deemed quite a success by all. 

The problem began on Saturday, when Elio and Oliver began to insist that it was time for Ollie to name the little thing. 

“Ollie, don’t you think it’s time that you gave her a name?” Elio asked as he reached over and petted her, making her tail wag wildly. 

Ollie frowned. “I can’t think of anything special,” he whined. 

“Why don’t you name her Frisky?” Elio suggested. “Because she’s always so… frisky.”

Ollie shook his head, frowning, “That’s not special at all. There’s a million dogs named Frisky. A special puppy has to have a special name.” 

Elio smiled patiently, “I’m sure you’ll come up with something.” 

Later that afternoon, Oliver, too, reminded Ollie that the puppy needed a name. “Why don’t you name her Pal?” Oliver suggested. “Because you’ve become such good Pals.” 

Ollie shook his head. “That’s not even one bit special! I’ll bet there’s a trillion dogs named Pal!” Ollie protested. 

Oliver shrugged, unperturbed, “I’m sure the right name will come to you soon.” 

The next day, Danny asked Ollie, “So, what are you going to name her?” 

“I dunno,” said Ollie, glumly. “Everyone keeps telling me what to name her, but nothing is special. I want her to have a special name, because she’s a special dog.” 

“Why don’t you name her Shadow?” Danny suggested. “Because she follows you around all the time. She’s like your shadow.”

Again, Ollie just shook his head. “That’s not the least bit special. There’s at  _ least  _ a zillion dogs named Shadow,” he muttered sourly. Why didn’t anyone understand that he couldn’t just give his puppy an ordinary dog name?!

On Monday, right after circle time, Ollie’s teacher told him that she wanted to talk to him at recess. Ollie was very worried about this. He didn’t think he had done anything bad, but the teacher only made you stay behind at recess if you were in trouble. By recess time, Ollie’s stomach was hurting. He tried to get in line to go out to recess, hoping that his teacher had forgotten.

But, then he heard, “Ollie, don’t forget that I want you to stay behind for a few minutes.” Ollie felt his eyes stinging. His vision was blurry. He needed Elio. He dragged himself over to his desk where he threw himself into his chair, laid his head down on his desk, and wished he could simply disappear. 

When the kids finally filed out of the room, leaving him all alone with his teacher, Ollie began to cry even though he was trying not to. His teacher brought him a tissue and sat down at Danny’s desk, which was beside his own desk. 

“Ollie what is wrong?” she asked. She sounded concerned. 

“If I get in trouble at school, I will get in trouble at home, and…Are you going to call my brother?” he groaned. 

She handed him another tissue. “Ollie, you aren’t in trouble,” she said. She reached over and patted his back a few times, and he started to feel better. “I’m sorry that you thought you were in trouble, Ollie. You have probably been upset all morning, huh?” she asked.

Ollie nodded. 

“I only wanted to talk to you because you have seemed really upset,” she said. “Last week you were excited about your new puppy, but this morning when you came in, you looked sad. Did something happen to your puppy? Or is anything bothering you at home?” she asked. 

Ollie shook his head. “No. I just have a big problem.”

Ollie’s teacher nodded. “Do you want to tell me? I am really good at solving problems. Maybe I can help you?” 

So, Ollie did. “I can’t think of a special name for my puppy. Everyone keeps telling me what I should name her, but all the names are boring and not even a little bit special!” She could hear how frustrated he was. 

“Hmmmm. That is a big problem, isn’t it?” she said. Ollie felt relieved that someone understood. Finally she added, “Why don’t you just stay with your family theme?” 

Ollie was puzzled. “What family theme?” he asked. 

“Well, you have Oliver, right?” she asked.

Ollie nodded. He wanted to say, “Duh,” but his brother had told him not to say that anymore so he didn’t. 

“And you’re named after him, right?”

Ollie nodded. He wondered how she knew that. 

“Then why don’t you name your puppy something along the same lines,” she explained. 

Ollie thought about that for a moment. That  _ would be _ special, but… 

He shook his head. “That won’t work. That would make Elio sad. He would be the only one with a different name,” he explained. 

“But, he has the same name, too,” she said.

Ollie shook his head. He thought teachers were supposed to be smart. “No, his name is  _ Elio. _ E-L-I-O. Elio,” Ollie explained as if he were talking to his puppy. 

“But, Elio is just the masculine form of elia, and that’s Greek for olive. So they really have the same name, one in Latin, one in Greek.” 

Ollie’s face changed then, from confused, to surprised, to delighted. 

“So, my brother and Oliver have the same name?” Ollie asked. 

“Kind of,” his teacher smiled. 

Ollie felt relief wash over him. By the time the other students came in from recess, he knew what to name the puppy, and it was special enough that he didn’t mind missing recess for it. 

When he got off the bus that afternoon, he ran past Elio as he now did every day. He ran to pick up his puppy instead. 

“Your name is Olive,” he told her. 

Elio smiled, seeing his brother so pleased with himself. 

“Olive, huh?” he asked. 

And then Ollie told them the story about how they all four had the same name. 

“So technically, you could call me by your name, huh?” Elio asked. 

“Yeah, and you could call me by yours. Or hers,” Ollie answered as his puppy licked him on the nose. 

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t really subscribe to this fan theory as being the reason that Elio and Oliver call each other by one another’s names. I realize that there are much deeper and more important reasons for the line that brings the novel’s title, and the author himself has explained this outright. Yet, I do also know that with his academic and personal background, it is something that Mr. Aciman would certainly have been aware of. So perhaps an inside joke?


End file.
